Studs dominate Crabs in 9-0 Father's Day victory

ARCATA &GT;&GT; The Crabbies came out flat and, after nine gruelling innings, were flattened.

The sweet-swinging Seattle Studs lived up their namesake by piercing the Humboldt Crabs with 12 walloping hits — two of which were home runs and four of the extra-base variety — in a commanding 9-0 Father's Day victory at the Arcata Ball Park Sunday.

After falling to Humboldt 8-5 to open the three-game series on Friday, Seattle progressively got better taking the second contest 11-8 Saturday. And, in the rubber match, Barry Aden's boys handed the Crabbies their first shutout defeat of the young season.

The Studs couldn't have put a better cap on a competitive three-game set.

"Oh, absolutely," Aden said when asked if this is how he wanted his team to close out the series. "There were no excuses anymore. We'd been ere a couple of nights and gotten our good rest. We had a good pitcher for us today and this is what I expect from my club on a daily basis.

"They way they're throwing the ball, nothing is surprising to me," said Crabs manager Tyson Fisher when asked if he was shocked to see the team produce only one hit. "(Kuzminsky) was locating the fast balls and the breaking balls weren't 'get 'em over' breaking balls. They were hammers."

Alex Crosby's infield single in the bottom of the fourth inning broke up Kuzminsky's no-hit bid.

"My fastball was working well and when I got ahead of guys, then I'd go to the slider," Kuzminsky began, "and usually, when there were two strikes, I'd hit the curveball. I really wanted to attack the zone and be ahead of the guy and throw off-speed for strikes.

"It was pretty fun. Me and (Garrett) Breda, the catcher, have good chemistry. He knows what I want to throw so, it was really fun."

Sunday was anything but fun for Humboldt.

Starter Zach Stone was chased from the bump after three-plus innings pitched. The Eureka High alum was tagged for nine hits (a homer, a double and a triple among them), seven runs (six earned) and yielded two walks and struck out one.

It was a rough introduction to Crabs baseball for the UC Davis product, yet, manager Tyson Fisher's confidence in the pitcher did not waver.

"He'll be fine," Fisher said. "He's got a lot of stuff to work with. He's been a closer all season an this was probably his first start of the year. That's what I told him. He'll be fine. (The Studs) are a quality hitting team. They had a lot of lefties and they were probably welcoming a righty with open arms today.

"He'll bounce back, no doubt in my mind. He's a guy who wants the ball and we want give it to him. He's a competitor. You can see it in his eyes."

Chipping away at Stone was part of the Studs' Modus operandi.

"We'd rather score one run in seven or eight innings rather than a five to six run inning to keep pressure on our opponent," Aden said. "That 2-1-3 first, second and third innings, it puts (opponents) on their heels. It let's my hitters sit back and be selective. We couldn't script it any better."

Max Whitt's leadoff solo bomb in the third inning and Bobby LeCount's two-run mammoth shot in the fifth showed how comfortable Seattle became at the ballpark as the series progressed.

"They were more relaxed and rested," Aden said of his hit squad. "They were over the big environment and, for a lot of these guys, it was their first time here. It's something you have to get used to. We assimilated ourselves and played the best we can."

The Crabs, on the other hand, did not look comfortable in their own yard.

"After the win Friday night, (Seattle) brought in another quality arm and (our hitters) started guessing a little bit. That shadow of a doubt in the back of your head with what pitch is coming, as a hitter, you can't do that. You have to attack them instead of waiting to be attacked."

Despite a disheartening defeat, Fisher knows his squad can learn plenty from the last three games.

"Hopefully, they learn from how (the Studs) approach the game," Fisher said. "They approach the game like professionals. They happen to have ex-professionals on that team; good leaders. We need to play like that.

"Show up to the yard, got work to do and do it. I can't be them to want to be here. It's a drive thing. Hopefully, we can take that away from this."

Now, at 7-4 overall, Fisher and Co. ready for another quality opponent in the Marysville Gold Sox. The two teams kickoff a two-game series Tuesday at the Arcata Ball Park. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

Fisher wants to see one thing from his squad then: Execution.

"They need to be aggressive," he said. "They need to relax and play hard and play with some pride. It will be nothing different than what we're doing already. It's a matter of going out there and doing it."